Mechanisms of disorders of the emotional-volitional sphere and behavior. Emotionally volitional disorders. Gentle correction of emotional-volitional disorders

Emotions are mental states that reflect the body’s reaction to changes in the surrounding world, itself or other people.

The biological role of emotions is cognitive-adaptive. The sum of emotions over a period of time is called mood. And vivid expressions of emotions with a distinct motor component are called affect.

Pathology of emotions:

Group 1 - Symptoms of low mood.

Hypotymia - decreased mood.

Yearning- experience of hopelessness, loss of vitality. This condition begins in the morning. You usually wake up earlier, at five o'clock, and lie down with with open eyes. Terrible melancholy and a stone on my chest. You need to get up, but you don’t want to, it seems terrible that there is a huge day ahead. Nothing good at work either, I want to hide in a corner. Melancholy is literally paralyzing, and the whole world seems gray and dull, as if seen through dirty glass. All meaning is lost and there is nothing good in the future.

Dysphoria- a state of unmotivated anger and irritability, sometimes aggressiveness, directed at everyone around them without exception. Typical for organic disorders and epilepsy. Usually, some time after the attacks, there are whole days when you are angry with everyone for no reason. No matter what anyone says, I want to object, protest. I just want to rush at the one who objects or looks the wrong way. It happens that you deliberately provoke, but this does not give relief. Sounds and bright lights, clothing and transport are annoying. In these dark days I always find myself in different stories.

Dysthymia- decreased mood with a predominance of irritation.

Anxiety- experience of confusion, danger in the near future with increased motor activity, sometimes tremor, palpitation, trembling, tachycardia, increased blood pressure. Anxiety is supported by the following cognitive circuits: the heart may stop, it is beating too much - I can have an attack anywhere - I will die as a result of the attack - increasing anxiety and repeating the stereotypical circle.

Fear- experiencing an immediate, specific threat. Among a person's fears, the following ranks respectively: fear of strangers, which first appears in a child at the age of about 1.5 years; fear of getting sick incurable disease(get infected); fear of unpredictable situations; fear of death; loss social person; child and love; habitual stereotypies; and, finally, the fear of losing the meaning of life, which occupies the highest place in the hierarchy.

2nd group. Symptoms of high mood.

Hyperthymia - high mood. There is nothing better than this period in the fall, it usually begins in September. You work a lot, but you don't get tired. You immediately implement ideas as soon as they appear. I am on time everywhere and always on top. I notice that I can drink more and not get drunk, I eat without even noticing what, but always with appetite. Many friends and girlfriends appear, sometimes the money goes away in one day. One disadvantage is the increase in debt.

Euphoria- a state of serenity with a desire for contemplation, but often with active actions that are characterized by carelessness. Characteristic for the use of psychoactive substances.

Moria- euphoria with a lack of purposeful activity and foolishness, characteristic of defeats frontal lobes brain.

Ecstasy- extremely elevated, elevated mood with the idea of ​​going beyond own body and merging with the environment, such as nature. The equivalent of an orgasm. It can be observed as a special type of epileptic paroxysm.

3rd group. Symptoms of instability emotional sphere.

Incontinence of affect- inability to control behavior that accompanies emotions; often expressed in aggressiveness towards a weak stimulus of resentment. Characteristic of organic disorders and some personality anomalies.

Emotional lability- rapid changes in mood, quickly appearing tears of emotion, irritability. Typical for vascular disorders.

Emotional coldness (weakness) - indifference, inability to empathize, detachment, formal reaction to the emotions of other people and even family members. But everyone is able to talk about their feelings and mood; a significant number of patients use poor and colorless expressions to describe them; this phenomenon is called alexithymia.

4th group. Symptoms of qualitative distortion of emotions.

Emotional dullness (flattening)- loss of the ability to subtle and adequate emotional reactions and the impossibility of their appearance at all. The introduction of stimulant medications leads to temporary pointless motor excitation, but not to the emergence of feelings or contact. For example, a patient who had been suffering from a simple form of schizophrenia for many years, in recent years, according to her husband, “has become insensitive, doesn’t look at anything.” During the three months of stay in the inpatient department of the dispensary, no manifestations of emotional activity were ever observed. On dates with her husband and children, it was never possible to note the emergence of feelings in the patient: she sat with her hands down and an absent expression on her face, and did not answer a single question. Looking to the side, pushing away the children who were hugging her, despite their tears and her husband’s requests, she independently interrupted the dates.

Apathy- lack of motivation for activity and loss of interest in others, but there is an emotional response.

Emotional impoverishment- loss of the ability to have subtle and adequate emotional reactions.

Emotional paradox- weakening of adequate emotional contacts on important events while simultaneously reviving reactions to accompanying minor circumstances. PTSD.

Ambivalence (duality)- the simultaneous occurrence and coexistence of two mutually opposite feelings (for example, love and hatred).

Will- the ability for active, conscious and purposeful activity. Physiological basis are instincts.

Violations:

Abulia- lack of volitional impulses. At schizophrenic defect personality and with organic lesions of the frontal lobes.

Hypobulia- weakening of volitional impulses. For depressive and asthenic conditions.

Hyperbulia- strengthening of volitional impulses. For drug addiction to amphetamines, psychomimetics. Manic states.

Parabulia- qualitative perversion of volitional impulses (with psychopathy-self-harm).

Holistic changes in volitional activity are manifested in hyperbulia, hypobulia, parabulia and abulia, but individual changes in the spheres of instinct are described depending on the type of instinct.

The most striking manifestations of the disorder affective sphere depressive and manic syndromes appear (Table 8.2).

Depressive syndrome

Clinical picture of a typical depressive syndrome usually described as a triad of symptoms: decreased mood (hypotymia), slowed thinking (associative inhibition) and motor retardation. It should, however, be taken into account that a decrease in mood is the main syndrome-forming symptom of depression. Hypotymia can be expressed in complaints of melancholy, depression, and sadness. Unlike the natural reaction of sadness in response to a sad event, melancholy in depression is deprived of connection with the environment; patients do not react either to the good news or to new blows of fate. Depending on severity depressive state hypothymia can be manifested by feelings of varying intensity - from mild pessimism and sadness to a heavy, almost physical feeling of “a stone on the heart” (vital melancholy).

Slowing down of thinking in mild cases is expressed by slow monosyllabic speech, long thinking about the answer. In more severe cases patients have difficulty comprehending the question asked and are unable to cope with solving the simplest logical tasks. They are silent, there is no spontaneous speech, but complete mutism (silence) usually does not occur. Motor retardation is manifested in stiffness, slowness, clumsiness, and in severe depression it can reach the level of stupor (depressive stupor). The posture of stuporous patients is quite natural: lying on their backs with their arms and legs outstretched, or sitting with their heads bowed and their elbows resting on their knees.

The statements of depressed patients reveal sharply low self-esteem: they describe themselves as insignificant, worthless people, devoid of talents.

Table 8.2. Symptoms of manic and depressive syndromes

We are surprised that the doctor devotes his time to such an insignificant person. Not only their present state, but also their past and future are assessed pessimistically. They declare that they could not do anything in this life, that they brought a lot of trouble to their family, and were not a joy for their parents. They make the saddest forecasts; as a rule, they do not believe in the possibility of recovery. In severe depression, delusional ideas of self-blame and self-deprecation are not uncommon. Patients consider themselves deeply sinful before God, guilty of the death of their elderly parents and the cataclysms occurring in the country. They often blame themselves for losing the ability to empathize with others (anaesthesia psychica dolorosa). It is also possible that hypochondriacal symptoms may occur crazy ideas. Patients believe they are hopelessly ill, perhaps a shameful disease; They are afraid of infecting their loved ones.

Suppression of desires, as a rule, is expressed by isolation, decreased appetite (less often, attacks of bulimia). Lack of interest in opposite sex accompanied by distinct changes physiological functions. Men often experience impotence and blame themselves for it. In women, frigidity is often accompanied by disorders menstrual cycle and even prolonged amenorrhea. Patients avoid any communication, feel awkward and out of place among people, and the laughter of others only emphasizes their suffering. Patients are so immersed in their own experiences that they are unable to care for anyone else. Women stop doing housework, cannot care for young children, and do not pay any attention to their appearance. Men cannot cope with the work they love, are unable to get out of bed in the morning, get ready and go to work, and lie awake all day long. Patients have no access to entertainment; they do not read or watch TV.

The greatest danger with depression is a predisposition to suicide. Among mental disorders, depression is the most common cause suicides. Although thoughts of death are common to almost all people suffering from depression, the real danger arises when severe depression is combined with sufficient activity of patients. With pronounced stupor, the implementation of such intentions is difficult. Cases of extended suicide have been described, when a person kills his children in order to “save them from future torment.”

One of the most difficult experiences of depression is persistent insomnia. Patients sleep poorly at night and cannot rest during the day. Waking up in the early morning hours (sometimes at 3 or 4 o'clock) is especially typical, after which patients no longer fall asleep. Sometimes patients persistently claim that they did not sleep a minute at night, never slept a wink, although relatives medical staff saw them sleeping ( lack of feeling of sleep).

Depression is usually accompanied by a variety of somatovegetative symptoms. As a reflection of the severity of the condition, peripheral sympathicotonia is more often observed. A characteristic triad of symptoms is described: tachycardia, dilated pupils and constipation (Protopopov triad) . Attracts attention appearance sick. The skin is dry, pale, flaky. A decrease in the secretory function of the glands is expressed in the absence of tears (“I cried all my eyes out”). Hair loss and brittle nails are often noted. A decrease in skin turgor manifests itself in the fact that wrinkles deepen and patients look older than their age. An atypical eyebrow fracture may be observed. Fluctuations in blood pressure with a tendency to increase are recorded. Gastrointestinal disorders are manifested not only by constipation, but also by deterioration of digestion. As a rule, body weight decreases noticeably. Various pains are frequent (headaches, heartaches, stomach pains, joint pains).

A 36-year-old patient was transferred to a psychiatric hospital from therapeutic department, where he was examined for 2 weeks due to constant pain in the right hypochondrium. The examination did not reveal any pathology, but the man insisted that he had cancer and admitted to the doctor his intention to commit suicide. He did not object to being transferred to a psychiatric hospital. Upon admission he is depressed and answers questions in monosyllables; declares that he “doesn’t care anymore!” Doesn't communicate with anyone in the department most lies in bed for a long time, eats almost nothing, constantly complains of lack of sleep, although the staff reports that the patient sleeps every night, according to at least until 5 o'clock in the morning. One day, during a morning examination, a strangulation groove was discovered on the patient’s neck. Upon persistent questioning, he admitted that in the morning, when the staff fell asleep, he tried, while lying in bed, to strangle himself with a noose tied from two handkerchiefs. After treatment with antidepressants, painful thoughts disappeared and all discomfort in the right hypochondrium.

Somatic symptoms of depression in some patients (especially during the first attack of the disease) may act as the main complaint. This is the reason why they contact a therapist and undergo long-term, unsuccessful treatment for “ coronary disease hearts", " hypertension", "biliary dyskinesia", " vegetative-vascular dystonia"etc. In this case they talk about masked (larved) depression, described in more detail in Chapter 12.

Vividness of emotional experiences, presence of delusional ideas, signs of hyperactivity vegetative systems allow us to consider depression as a syndrome of productive disorders (see Table 3.1). This is confirmed by the characteristic dynamics of depressive states. In most cases, depression lasts several months. However, it is always reversible. Before the introduction of antidepressants and electroconvulsive therapy Doctors often observed spontaneous recovery from this state.

The most typical symptoms depression. In each individual case, their set may vary significantly, but a depressed, melancholy mood always prevails. Full-blown depressive syndrome is considered a psychotic level disorder. The severity of the condition is evidenced by the presence of delusional ideas, lack of criticism, active suicidal behavior, pronounced stupor, suppression of all basic drives. The mild, non-psychotic version of depression is referred to as subdepression. When conducting scientific research To measure the severity of depression, special standardized scales (Hamilton, Tsung, etc.) are used.

Depressive syndrome is not specific and can be a manifestation of a variety of mental illness: manic-depressive psychosis, schizophrenia, organic lesions brain and psychogeny. For depression caused by an endogenous disease (MDP and schizophrenia), severe somatovegetative disorders are more typical, important feature endogenous depression is a special daily dynamics of the state with increased melancholy in the morning and some weakening of feelings in the evening. It is the morning hours that are considered to be the period associated with the greatest risk of suicide. Another marker of endogenous depression is a positive dexamethasone test (see section 1.1.2).

In addition to the typical depressive syndrome, a number of atypical variants of depression are described.

Anxious (agitated) depression characterized by the absence of pronounced stiffness and passivity. The sthenic affect of anxiety causes patients to fuss, constantly turning to others asking for help or demanding an end to their torment, to help them die. The premonition of an imminent catastrophe does not allow patients to sleep; they may attempt to commit suicide in front of others. At times, the patients' excitement reaches the level of frenzy (melancholic raptus, raptus melancholicus), when they tear their clothes, make scary screams, banging their heads against the wall. Anxious depression more often observed at involutionary age.

Depressive-delusional syndrome , in addition to a melancholy mood, is manifested by such plots of delirium as delusions of persecution, staging, and influence. Patients are confident of severe punishment for their crimes; “notice” constant observation of themselves. They fear that their guilt will lead to oppression, punishment or even the murder of their relatives. Patients are restless, constantly asking about the fate of their relatives, trying to make excuses, swearing that they will never make a mistake in the future. So atypical delusional symptoms is more typical not for MDP, but for acute attack schizophrenia (schizoaffective psychosis in terms of ICD-10).

Apathetic depression combines the affects of melancholy and apathy. Patients are not interested in their future, they are inactive, and do not express any complaints. Their only desire is to be left alone. This condition differs from apathetic-abulic syndrome in its instability and reversibility. Most often, apathetic depression is observed in people suffering from schizophrenia.

Quite often, parental care is mainly focused on physical health your child, while the emotional component remains virtually unattended. This is due to the fact that most parents consider early symptoms of emotional disorders to be temporary and therefore harmless.

The place of emotional disturbances in mental development child appears to be one of key aspects his life, due to the fact that these violations affect his attitude towards his parents and towards the environment in general. Today there is a tendency towards an increase in emotional disorders in children, in the form of decreased social adaptation and a tendency towards aggressive behavior.

There are many reasons for the occurrence of emotional disorders in a child, so parents should be especially attentive to the manifestation of various pathological signs. As a rule, specialists make a final diagnosis when registering 3 signs of emotional instability.

The most common causes of emotional disturbances are:

• Physical features, taking into account past diseases in infancy;
• Inhibition of mental and mental development;
• Improper upbringing of a child in the preschool period;
• Poor nutrition, namely insufficient intake necessary substances, which significantly affects the development of the baby;

Also, these above reasons are divided into two large groups:

1. Biological.

This causal group includes characteristic type nervous system. For example, in the presence of attention deficit disorder, a child may subsequently develop a pathological process in the brain, formed as a result of the severe course of pregnancy and childbirth of his mother.

1. Social

This group determines the process of interaction of the child with other people and the environment. For example, if a child already has experience communicating with age group people, his peers and the primary group for him - his family, then in some cases such socialization can also harm him.

If a child is constantly subjected to denial by adults, then he unconsciously begins to repress the received information that comes from environment.

The emergence of new experiences that do not coincide with his conceptual structure begins to be perceived negatively by him, which ultimately creates a certain stress for him.

In the absence of understanding from peers, the child develops emotional experiences (rage, resentment, disappointment), which are characterized by severity and duration. Also, constant conflicts in the family, demands on the child, lack of understanding of his interests, also cause emotional disturbances in the mental development of the child.

Classifications of emotional disorders and their symptoms

The difficulty in identifying emotional-volitional disorders has resulted in the fact that a number of psychologists have formed different views on these types of disorders. For example, the scientist-psychologist G. Sukhareva noted that emotional disturbances in the younger school age, are often observed in children suffering from neurasthenia, which was distinguished by its excessive excitability.

Psychologist J. Milanich had a different idea about these disorders. He found that emotional-volitional disorders include 3 groups of emotional disorders;

• Acute emotional reactions, which are characterized by the coloring of certain conflict situations which manifested itself in aggression, hysteria, reactions of fear or resentment;
• A state of increased tension – anxiety, fearfulness, decreased mood.
• Dysfunction of the emotional state, which manifested itself in a sharp transition from positive emotional phenomena to negative ones and also in the reverse order.

However, the most detailed clinical picture emotional disorders were N.I. Kosterina. She subdivides emotional disorders into 2 large groups, which are characterized by an increase in the level of emotionality and, accordingly, its decrease.

The first group includes such conditions as:

• Euphoria, which is characterized by an inadequate increase in mood. A child in this condition, as a rule, has increased impulsiveness, impatience and a desire for dominance.
• Dysphoria is the opposite form of euphoria, characterized by the manifestation of such emotions as anger, irritability, aggressiveness. It is a type of depressive syndrome.
• Depression – pathological condition characterized by the manifestation negative emotions and behavioral passivity. A child in this state feels depressed and sad.
• Anxiety syndrome is a condition in which a child feels unreasonable anxiety and severe nervous tension. Expressed in permanent shift mood, tearfulness, lack of appetite, hypersensitivity. Often this syndrome develops into a phobia.
• Apathy is a serious condition in which the child feels indifferent to everything that happens around him, and is also characterized by sharp decline initiative functions. Most psychologists argue that the loss of emotional reactions is combined with a decrease or complete loss of volitional impulses.
• Paratamia – characteristic disorder emotional background, in which the experience of one specific emotion is accompanied by external manifestations of completely opposite emotions. Often observed in children suffering from schizophrenia.

The second group includes:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is characterized by symptoms such as motor disorientation and impulsivity. It follows that the key signs of this syndrome are distractibility and excessive motor activity.
• Aggression. This emotional manifestation is formed as part of a character trait or as a reaction to environmental influences. In any case, the above violations need correction. However, before adjusting pathological manifestations, first of all, the main causes of diseases are identified.

Diagnosis of disorders

For subsequent therapy of disorders and its effectiveness, it is very important timely diagnosis emotional development child and his disorders. There are many special techniques and tests that evaluate the development and psychological condition child, taking into account his age characteristics.

Diagnostics of children preschool age includes:

• Diagnosis of anxiety level and its assessment;
• Study of psycho-emotional state;
• Luscher color test;
• Study of self-esteem and personal characteristics child;
• Study of the development of volitional qualities.

Appeal for psychological help necessary if the child experiences certain difficulties in learning, communicating with peers, behavior, or has certain phobias.

Parents should also pay attention if the child experiences any emotional experiences, feelings, and also if his condition is characterized as depressed.

Methods for correcting emotional disorders

A number of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of psychology identify a number of techniques that allow you to correct emotionally volitional disorders in children. These methods are usually divided into 2 main groups: individual and group, but this division does not reflect main goal correction of mental disorders.

Mental correction affective disorders in children is an organized system psychological effects. This correction is mainly aimed at:

• Alleviating emotional discomfort
• Increased activity and independence
• Suppression of secondary personal reactions (aggression, excessive excitability, anxiety, etc.).
• Correction of self-esteem;
• Formation of emotional stability.

World psychology includes 2 main approaches to the psychological correction of a child, namely:

• Psychodynamic approach. Advocates for the creation of conditions that make it possible to suppress external social barriers, using methods such as psychoanalysis, play therapy and art therapy.
• Behavioral approach. This approach allows you to stimulate the child to assimilate new reactions aimed at the formation of adaptive behavioral forms and, conversely, suppresses non-adaptive forms of behavior, if any. Includes such methods of influence as behavioral and psychoregulatory training, which allow the child to consolidate learned reactions.

When choosing a method of psychological correction of emotional disorders, one should proceed from the specifics of the disorder, which determines the deterioration of the emotional state. If a child has intrapersonal disorders, then an excellent way would be to use play therapy (not computer therapy), and the method of family psychocorrection has also proven itself well.

If there is a predominance of interpersonal conflicts, group psychocorrection is used, which allows optimizing interpersonal relationships. When choosing any method, the severity of the child’s emotional instability must be taken into account.

Methods of psychological correction such as game therapy, fairytale therapy, etc. work effectively if they comply mental characteristics child and therapist.

The age of a child under 6 years (preschool period) is the most important period its development, since it is during this period that the child’s personal foundations, volitional qualities are formed, and the emotional sphere also rapidly develops.

Volitional qualities develop mainly due to conscious control over behavior, while maintaining certain behavioral rules in memory.

The development of these qualities is characterized as general development personality, that is, mainly by shaping the will, emotions and feelings.

Consequently, for the successful emotional-volitional upbringing of a child, parents and teachers need to especially pay attention to creating a positive atmosphere of mutual understanding. Therefore, many experts recommend that parents formulate the following criteria for their child:

• When communicating with a child, you must maintain absolute calm and show your goodwill in every possible way;
• You should try to communicate with your child more often, ask him about anything, empathize, and be interested in his hobbies;
• Joint physical labor, games, drawing, etc. will have a positive effect on the child’s condition, so try to pay him as much attention as possible.
• It is necessary to ensure that the child does not watch films or play games with elements of violence, as this will only aggravate it. emotional condition;
• Support your child in every possible way and help him build confidence in himself and his abilities.

Human emotions act as a special class mental states, which are reflected as positive or negative attitude to the world around us, to other people and, above all, to ourselves. Emotional experiences are determined by the corresponding properties and qualities formed in objects and phenomena of reality, as well as by certain needs and needs of a person.

The term "emotion" comes from Latin name emovere, which means movement, excitement and excitement. The key functional component of emotions is the motivation for activity; as a result, the emotional sphere is also called the emotional-volitional sphere.

At the moment, emotions play a significant role in ensuring the interaction between the body and the environment.

Emotions are mainly the result of reflecting human needs and assessing the likelihood of their satisfaction, which are based on personal and genetic experience.

How pronounced a person’s emotional state is depends on the significance of the needs and the lack of necessary information.

Negative emotions manifest themselves as a result of a lack of necessary information that is required to satisfy a number of needs, and positive emotions characterized by the complete availability of all necessary information.

Today, emotions are divided into 3 main parts:

1. Affect, characterized by acute experience of a certain event, emotional tension and excitement;
2. Cognition (awareness of one’s state, its verbal designation and assessment of further prospects for meeting needs);
3. Expression that is characterized by external bodily motor activity or behavior.

A relatively stable emotional state of a person is called mood. The sphere of human needs includes social ones, which arise on the basis of cultural needs, which later became known as feelings.

There are 2 emotional groups:

1. Primary (anger, sadness, anxiety, shame, surprise);
2. Secondary, which includes processed primary emotions. For example, pride is joy.

Clinical picture of emotional-volitional disorders

To the main external manifestations of disturbance emotionally volitional sphere relate:

• Emotional stress. With increased emotional tension, disorganization of mental activity and decreased activity occur.
• Swift mental fatigue(The child has). It is expressed by the fact that the child is unable to concentrate, and is also characterized by a sharp negative reaction to certain situations where a demonstration of his mental qualities is necessary.
• A state of anxiety, which is expressed by the fact that a person avoids in every possible way any contact with other people and does not strive to communicate with them.
• Increased aggressiveness. Most often occurs in childhood when a child defiantly disobeys adults and experiences constant physical and verbal aggression. Such aggression can be expressed not only towards others, but also towards oneself, thereby causing harm to one’s own health.
• Lack of ability to feel and comprehend the emotions of other people, to empathize. This symptom is usually accompanied by increased anxiety and is the cause mental disorder and mental retardation.
• Lack of desire to overcome life difficulties. In this case, the child is in a constantly lethargic state, he has no desire to communicate with adults. Extreme manifestations of this disorder are expressed in complete ignorance of parents and other adults.
• Lack of motivation to succeed. The main factor of low motivation is the desire to avoid possible failures, as a result of which a person refuses to take on new tasks and tries to avoid situations where even the slightest doubt arises about final success.
• Expressed distrust of other people. Often accompanied by such symptoms as hostility towards others.
• Increased impulsivity in childhood. It is expressed by such signs as a lack of self-control and awareness of one’s actions.

Classification of disorders in the emotional-volitional sphere

Disorders of the emotional sphere in adult patients are distinguished by such features as:

• Hypobulia or decreased willpower. Patients with this disorder lack any need to communicate with other people, experience irritability in the presence of strangers, and lack the ability or desire to carry on a conversation.
• Hyperbulia. It is characterized by increased desire in all areas of life, often expressed in increased appetite and the need for constant communication and attention.
• Abulia. It is distinguished by the fact that a person’s volitional drives sharply decrease.
• Compulsive attraction is an irresistible need for something or someone. This disorder is often compared to animal instinct, when a person’s ability to be aware of their actions is significantly suppressed.
• Obsessive desire is a manifestation of obsessive desires that the patient is not able to independently control. Failure to satisfy such desires leads to depression and deep suffering for the patient, and his thoughts are filled with the idea of ​​their realization.

Syndromes of emotional-volitional disorders

The most common forms of emotional disorders are depressive and manic syndromes.

1. Depressive syndrome

The clinical picture of depressive syndrome is described by its 3 main signs, such as:

• Hypotomia, characterized by decreased mood;
• Associative inhibition (mental inhibition);
• Motor retardation.

It is worth noting that the first point above is key feature depressive state. Hypotomia can be expressed in the fact that a person is constantly sad, feels depressed and sad. Unlike the established reaction, when sadness arises as a result of experiencing a sad event, with depression a person loses connection with the environment. That is, in this case the patient does not show a reaction to joyful and other events.

Depending on the severity of the condition, hypotomy can occur with varying intensity.

Mental retardation in its mild manifestations is expressed in the form of slowing down monosyllabic speech and taking a long time to think about the answer. A severe course is characterized by an inability to comprehend questions asked and solving a number of simple logical problems.

Motor retardation manifests itself in the form of stiffness and slowness of movements. At severe course depression there is a risk of depressive stupor (a state of complete depression).

1. Manic syndrome

Often, manic syndrome manifests itself within the framework of affective bipolar disorder. In this case, the course of this syndrome is characterized by paroxysmal episodes, in the form of individual episodes with certain stages of development. Symptomatic picture, which stands out in the structure of a manic episode, is characterized by variability within one patient depending on the stage of development of the pathology.

Such a pathological condition as manic syndrome, as well as depressive syndrome, is distinguished by 3 main signs:

• Elevated mood due to hyperthymia;
• Mental excitability in the form of accelerated thought processes and speech (tachypsia);
• Motor excitement;

An abnormal increase in mood is characterized by the fact that the patient does not feel such manifestations as melancholy, anxiety and a number of other signs characteristic of depressive syndrome.

Mental excitability with an accelerated thinking process occurs up to a race of ideas, that is, in this case, the patient’s speech becomes incoherent due to excessive distractibility, although the patient himself is aware of the logic of his words. It also stands out because the patient has ideas of his own greatness and denial of the guilt and responsibility of other people.

Increased motor activity in this syndrome is characterized by disinhibition of this activity in order to obtain pleasure. Consequently, with manic syndrome, patients tend to consume large amounts of alcohol and drugs.

Manic syndrome is also characterized by such emotional disturbances as:

• Strengthening instincts (increased appetite, sexuality);
• Increased distractibility;
• Reassessment of personal qualities.

Methods for correcting emotional disorders

Features of the correction of emotional disorders in children and adults are based on the use of a number of effective techniques that can almost completely normalize their emotional state. As a rule, emotional correction for children involves the use of play therapy.

Often in childhood, emotional disorders are caused by a lack of gameplay, which significantly inhibits mental and mental development.

The systematic motor and speech factor of the game allows you to reveal the child’s capabilities and feel positive emotions from the game process. Elaboration various situations from life in play therapy allows the child to adapt to real life conditions much faster.

There is another therapeutic approach, namely psychodynamic, which is based on the method of psychoanalysis aimed at resolving the patient’s internal conflict, awareness of his needs and life experiences.

The psychodynamic method also includes:

• Art therapy;
• Indirect play therapy;
• Fairytale therapy.

These specific effects have proven themselves not only for children, but also for adults. They allow patients to relax, show creative imagination and present emotional disorders as a certain image. The psychodynamic approach is also distinguished by its ease and ease of implementation.

Also common methods include ethnofunctional psychotherapy, which allows you to artificially create a duality of the subject, in order to understand your personal and emotional problems, as if focusing your view from the outside. In this case, the help of a psychotherapist allows patients to transfer their emotional problems to an ethnic projection, work through them, realize them and let them pass through themselves in order to finally get rid of them.

Prevention of emotional disorders

The main goal of preventing disorders of the emotional-volitional sphere is the formation of dynamic balance and a certain margin of safety of the central nervous system. This condition is determined by the absence of internal conflicts and a stable optimistic attitude.

Sustained optimistic motivation makes it possible to move towards the intended goal, overcoming various difficulties. As a result, a person learns to make informed decisions based on a large amount of information, which reduces the likelihood of error. That is, the key to emotionally stable nervous system is the movement of a person along the path of development.

Emotions are one of the most important mechanisms mental activity. It is emotions that produce sensually colored total score incoming information from inside and outside. In other words, we evaluate the external situation and our own internal state. Emotions should be assessed along two axes: strong-weak and negative-positive.

Emotion is a feeling, an internally subjective experience that is inaccessible to direct observation. But even this deeply subjective form of manifestation can have disturbances called emotional-volitional disorders.

Emotional-volitional disorders

The peculiarity of these disorders is that they combine two psychological mechanisms: emotions and will.

Emotions have external expression: facial expressions, gestures, intonation, etc. By external manifestation emotions, doctors judge a person’s internal state. A long-term emotional state is characterized by the term “mood.” A person’s mood is quite flexible and depends on several factors:

• external: luck, defeat, obstacles, conflicts, etc.;
• internal: health, activity.

Will is a mechanism for regulating behavior that allows you to plan activities, satisfy needs, and overcome difficulties. The needs that contribute to adaptation are usually called “drive”. Attraction is special condition human needs for certain conditions. Conscious attractions are usually called desires. A person always has several pressing and competing needs. If a person does not have the opportunity to fulfill his needs, then unpleasant condition, called frustration.

Emotional disorders are an excessive manifestation of natural emotions:

Disorders of will and desires

In clinical practice, disorders of will and desire are manifested by behavioral disorders:

Emotional-volitional disorders require treatment. It is often effective drug therapy in combination with psychotherapy. For effective treatment, the choice of specialist plays a decisive role. Trust only real professionals.